Perceived Self-Tilt in Dynamic Visual Stimuli: Evidence for Suppression by Vestibulo-Tactile Inputs

Perception of self-tilt is affected by shearing force acting on the otolith organs in the ears, by pressure acting on the tactile receptors in the skin, and by visual pattern falling on the retinae. We examined how the vestibular, somatosensory, and visual inputs interact in judging self-tilt in roll. Each of fourteen observers, sitting in a chair and gazing at a rotation pattern in the frontal plane, was tilted to various angles and verbally judged to what extent his/her body was tilted. The independent variables examined were body tilt (0° to ±108°), and the rate (7.5° s⁻¹, 15° s⁻¹, and 30° s⁻¹) and direction (CW and CCW) of the visual rotating pattern. We found that (i) the sensory scale for self-tilt is represented by a third-order polynomial lacking the quadratic component, (ii) perceived self-tilt for the CW (or CCW) rotation of the visual pattern is displaced CCW (or CW), (iii) the linear and cubic components of the equation increase with an increase in the rate of rotation of the visual pattern, and (iv) if the body is tilted in concord with the direction of vection, the velocity of visual pattern is effective, but when the body is tilted in conflict with the direction of vection, it is less effective. These findings are interpreted in terms of vestibular and somatosensory suppressions exerted on the effects of vection.